Notebook: North American Thanksgivings, Dru Brown on Bedlam

STILLWATER — The Cowboys and the Sooners are just a few days from going at it again.

Oklahoma State plays Oklahoma on Saturday night in Boone Pickens Stadium in the first ranked Bedlam since Mason Rudolph and Baker Mayfield went at in in 2017. The Cowboys met with reporters after their practice Tuesday evening. Here are some talking points from that.

A Cowboy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a little different for every family.

Dressing or stuffing is a debate many have, but for some of the Cowboys, the food has been different entirely.

Canadian’s celebrated the holiday on Oct. 12. Chuba Hubbard joked that since he has moved to America he gets two of everything between his family and his football family. As for the food eaten on the Canadian rendition of the holiday, Hubbard said it’s mostly the same as in the States, but his family does it a little more unique than most.

“My family kinda does it different,” Hubbard said. “I like turkey and all that. I kinda add some different stuff too, just like some Nigerian food.”

Quarterback Dru Brown has been part of a few different types of Thanksgivings. He is from California originally, but spent two seasons at Hawaii before coming to Stillwater. It sounds like Hawaiian’s celebrate the holiday differently from the continental United States.

“Typical spicy tuna, poke bowls and chicken katsu, all that stuff,” Brown said. “It’s a little different. Thanksgiving out there, you just east Hawaiian food.”

“I’m not a picky eater at all. I swear I’m fat at heart. That’s why I always get along with the linemen, going out to eat with those guys. I’m not picky, and I don’t show favorites. I just enjoy different types of food and different types of cultures. I’m kinda excited to see what we got going out here.”

Center Johnny Wilson said he is having Thanksgiving with Brown this year. He said a group of the team is getting together and a bunch of their families are coming.

“I’m just gonna eat turkey, not watch football and sleep,” Wilson said.

Bedlam Brown

Dru Brown has been on the sideline for one Bedlam game, but he is no rookie to the fanfare.

“I’m not like a stranger to it,” Brown said. “I watched football growing up, so I understand that it’s a big deal and it’s a fun game to be a part of. It’s gonna be fun.”

Brown started his first game at OSU last weekend, completing 76 percent of his passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. His second start will be under just about as big a microscope as there is in OSU football, the game against in-state rival OU.

Mason Rudolph made his second start at OSU in Bedlam in 2014, a game the Cowboys won. It was the first time OSU won Bedlam since 2011.

“I hadn’t thought about that, but that’s a good similarity,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said Monday. “I wish it’d play out just like that. That’s a good one.”

As mentioned above, Brown got a front-row seat to Bedlam last year when then-starting quarterback Taylor Cornelius threw for 501 yards in a classic Bedlam shootout that saw the Cowboys fall 48-47.

“I think, looking back at it, sitting behind Corn last year, I learned a lot,” Brown said. “Not only about just that game and stuff, but just in general. I kinda tried to use that as a perspective thing, and also another year to learn.”

A.J. Green on Defending CeeDee Lamb

Last season CeeDee Lamb was Kyler Murray’s second option behind Marquise Brown, but Lamb has dominated this year as the Sooners’ featured pass catcher heading into Bedlam.

The 6-foot-2 junior has caught 46 passes this year for 999 yards and 14 touchdowns. Lincoln Riley moves Lamb around, but he will undoubtedly match up with OSU’s top corner A.J. Green a few times Saturday.

“He’s a playmaker,” Green said. “They like to give him the ball quick, and they like to give him the ball down field. They move him around here and there with jet sweeps.”

Green has had some big games against big competition. He helped lock down Collin Johnson and David Sills in OSU’s upset wins over Texas and West Virginia last season.

He had two interceptions against West Virginia as a sophomore the year before. He also intercepted Baker Mayfield in that year’s Bedlam game.

“It’s just an opportunity for me to eat against one of the best and show what I can do,” Green said.